Tuesday, October 18, 2011

New results from the analysis of paddy grains found in the Porunthal graveyard archaeological site prove that writing systems in India were in existence in the 5th Century BC, predating the arrival of Asoka, according to history professor at the Pondicherry University and director of the excavation project at Porunthal K. Rajan.

Rice paddy samples that were contained in an engraved pot found inside one of the graves were found to be from 450 BC when analysed using Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) by the Beta Analytic Lab, USA, he said, addressing a private gathering organised by the Manarkeni journal.

Earlier, paddy sample from another grave was dated at 490 BC, but many scholars were unwilling to accept evidence obtained from only one sample. The analysis of the second sample proved that Tamil-Brahmi writing existed in the 5th century BC and was not invented in the 3rd century BC as was previously believed by scholars, he said. This was also the first time anyone had discovered Tamil-Brahmi script along with rice in any archaeological site. Scholars were still debating on the exact letters that were written and its meaning, he said.

Another significant discovery from the gravesite is that the paddy samples obtained in the graves in Porunthal were cultivated paddy of the Orissa Satvaika variety, he said.

The Porunthal site is located 12 km South West of Palani and was discovered to have archaeological value in 2006. In 2009-2010, Mr. Rajan and his team of 80 students started excavation at the site, which was divided into two sections – one area for habitation and one area with a graveyard. There were over 100 graves in the region, but with modernisation of the area, several graves have been destroyed and now only 30 graves are still intact, he said.

In the graves that were studied, it was found that while most of the containers found in the graves were made after the person's death, there was one container that showed signs of use. The team also found a pot with around 2 kilos of rice paddy, which had been sealed in airtight containers. These graves also contained a large number of beads, which were predominantly glass. The pottery in the grave was also engraved with Tamil-Brahmi script, he said. In two of the graves, the team found over 11,000 beads, which were made from glass or paste. The beads were originally made in the Vidarbha region, indicating a trade relationship between the two regions, he said.

The team had also unearthed a skeleton adorned with a necklace of beads in one of the graves, but they had not yet analysed the bones, he said. The excavation team also found pottery with a peacock design on it.

In his speech at the event, editor of the Manarkeni journal D. Ravikumar expressed distress at the destruction of various archaeological sites in the Porunthal region by quarries. History scholars T. Subramaniam, K. Vijayavenugopal and Raj Gouthaman spoke.

Did the Tamil-Brahmi script originate in the post-Asokan period, that is, after the 3rd century BCE, or is it pre-Asokan?

Did the Tamil-Brahmi script originate in the post-Asokan period, that is, after the 3rd century BCE, or is it pre-Asokan? A cist-burial excavated in 2009 at Porunthal village, on the foothills of the Western Ghats, 12 km from Palani in Tamil Nadu, has reignited this debate because of the spectacular variety of grave goods it contained.

One of the two underground chambers of the grave was remarkable for the richness of its goods: a skull and skeletal bones, a four-legged jar with two kg of paddy inside, two ring-stands inscribed with the same Tamil-Brahmi script reading “va-y-ra” (meaning diamond) and a symbol of a gem with a thread passing through it, 7,500 beads made of carnelian, steatite, quartz and agate, three pairs of iron stirrups, iron swords, knives, four-legged jars of heights ranging from few centimetres to one metre, urns, vases, plates and bowls. It was obviously a grave that belonged to a chieftain ( The Hindu , June 28, 2009 and Frontline , October 8, 2010).

When K. Rajan, Professor, Department of History, Pondicherry University, excavated this megalithic grave, little did he realise that the paddy found in the four-legged jar would be instrumental in reviving the debate on the origin of the Tamil-Brahmi script. Accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) dating of the paddy done by Beta Analysis Inc., Miami, U.S.A, assigned the paddy to 490 BCE. “Since all the goods kept in the grave including the paddy and the ring-stands with the Tamil-Brahmi script are single-time deposits, the date given to the paddy is applicable to the Tamil-Brahmi script also,” said Dr. Rajan. So the date of evolution of Tamil-Brahmi could be pushed 200 years before Asoka, he argued.

This dating, done on the Porunthal paddy sent to the U.S. laboratory by Dr. Rajan, took the antiquity of the grave belonging to the early historic age to 490 BCE, he said. It held great significance for Tamil Nadu's history, he added. This was the first time an AMS dating was done for a grave in Tamil Nadu.

There are two major divergent views on the date of Tamil-Brahmi.

While scholars such as Iravatham Mahadevan and Y. Subbarayalu hold the view that Tamil-Brahmi was introduced in Tamil Nadu after 3rd century BCE and it is, therefore, post-Asokan, some others including K.V. Ramesh, retired Director of Epigraphy, Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), consider it pre-Asokan.

According to Dr. Rajan, the AMS dating of the Porunthal paddy grains has the following implications: the context of the Tamil-Brahmi goes back to 490 BCE and it is, therefore, pre-Asokan; Tamil Nadu's ancient history can be pushed back to 5th century BCE and it was contemporary to mahajanapadas (kingdoms) such as Avanti, Kosala, Magadha and so on; paddy cultivation goes back to 5th century BCE; and it establishes that the megalithic graves introduced in the Iron Age continued into the early historic times.

When contacted, Mr. Mahadevan, a leading authority on the Tamil-Brahmi and Indus scripts, and Dr. Subbarayalu, Head, Department of Indology, French Institute of Pondicherry, said it was difficult to reach a conclusion on the basis of one single scientific dating.

Mr. Mahadevan described the dating as “interesting” but said “multiple carbon-dates are needed” for confirmation. “If there are several such cases, history has to be re-written because up to now, the scientifically proved earliest date is from Tissamaharama in southern Sri Lanka, where a Tamil-Brahmi script is dated to 200 BCE.” If there is scientific evidence that the paddy is dated to 490 BCE, “we have to sit up and take notice, and wait for confirmation,” Mr. Mahadevan said.

The Asokan-Brahmi is dated to 250 BCE. Megasthenes, the Greek Ambassador to the court of Chandragupta Maurya, Emperor Asoka's grandfather, had stated that the people of Chandragupta Maurya's kingdom did not know how to write and that they depended on memory. Besides, there is no inscription of the pre-Asoka period available. Mr. Mahadevan said: “Supposing a large number of carbon-datings are available from various sites, which will take us to the period of the Mauryas and even the Nandas, we can consider. But to push [the date of the origin of the Tamil-Brahmi script] a couple of centuries earlier with a single carbon-dating is not acceptable because chances of contamination and error are there.”

Dr. Subbarayalu also argued that on the basis of one single scientific dating, it was difficult to reach the conclusion that Tamil-Brahmi was pre-Asokan. There should be more evidence to prove that Tamil-Brahmi was earlier to the time of Asoka, in whose time was available the earliest Brahmi script in north India.

Mr. Mahadevan's conclusion that Tamil-Brahmi is post-Asokan and it had its advent from about the middle of the third century BCE is based on “concrete archaeological as well as palaeographical grounds” and this date is as yet the most reasonable one, in spite of minor points of difference on his dating of individual inscriptions, said Dr. Subbarayalu.

The date of the Tamil-Brahmi script found at Porunthal, on palaeographic basis, could be put only in the first century BCE/CE and “cannot be pushed back to such an early date [490 BCE].” The three letters “va-y-ra” found on the ring-stands were developed and belonged to the second stage of Mr. Mahadevan's dating of Tamil-Brahmi. “It is premature to revise the Tamil-Brahmi dating on the basis of a single carbon date, which is governed by complicated statistical probabilities,” Dr. Subbarayalu said. The word “vayra” is an adapted name from the Prakrit or Sanskrit “vajra” and it is difficult to explain convincingly the generally dominant Prakrit element in Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions found on rock and pot-sherds if Tamil-Brahmi is indigenous and pre-Asokan and transported from south India to north India, he says.

On the other hand, Dilip K. Chakrabarti, Emeritus Professor, Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge, called the Porunthal Tamil-Brahmi script “an epoch-making discovery in the archaeology of Tamil Nadu” and said there “is no doubt” that Tamil-Brahmi belonged to the pre-Asokan period. In two of his books — “An Oxford Companion to Indian Archaeology” and “India, an Archaeological History” — he had written that the evolution of Tamil-Brahmi should go back to circa 500 BCE.

He refuted the theory that Tamil-Brahmi was post-Asokan.

Dr. Ramesh, who retired as the ASI's Joint Director-General in 1993, said the Porunthal scientific dating strengthened the argument that Tamil-Brahmi was pre-Asokan. He dismissed the assessment that Tamil-Brahmi was post-Asokan as “the argument of people who say that there cannot be pre-Asokan inscriptions.” “How can you question the scientific dating given by an American laboratory?” Dr. Ramesh said the Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions found at Mankulam, near Madurai, were pre-Asokan. [The Mankulam inscriptions are the earliest Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions and they are dated to second century BCE]. “The consonants in the Mankulam inscriptions do not have vowel value attached to them. They are pre-Asokan and the script is more rudimentary than the Asokan-Brahmi,” he claimed.

The date given by the American laboratory was “a wonderful result,” said M.R. Raghava Varier, former Professor, Department of History, Calicut University, “because the earliest date given so far to a south Indian site was 300 BCE.” The archaeological sites of Uraiyur in Tamil Nadu and Arikkamedu in Puducherry fell within the time-limit of 300 BCE and Arikkamedu belonged to a later period than Uraiyur. While the [pre-Asokan] date given to a Tamil-Brahmi inscription found at Anuradhapura in Sri Lanka “has not been proved convincingly,” there was “a convincing date” at Porunthal and it was based on a scientific dating system, said Professor Varier, who was the honorary Editor of Kerala Archaeological Series. Its importance lay in the fact that while the Asokan-Brahmi began in the 3rd century BCE, the Porunthal script could be dated to 5th century BCE, he says. “But we cannot argue that Brahmi was invented by the southern people. That is a different issue.”

The entire thing is based on one fella megasthenes saying they didnt know writing.

Panini who definitely lived before nandas, created it all rules and sutras in air for them.
yoga sutras were written in air.

then 400 yrs later someone remembered all this and wrote them down.

All accurate astronomical calculations were done in mind/. wow

This is some of these idiots stupid concept.

Beauty is panini is his own ashtadayi mentions writing scripts.

A recent finding in Tamilnadu puts the date of Tamil Brahmi script at 3rd Century BC, that is before Ashoka and along with the times of Nandas. Popular linguistic scholars do not accept this time. But a verse in Aga nanuru mentioned Nanda kings and how Tamils had gone to their kingdom in Pataliputhra. Since the issue is on written script, how would they interpret the existence of this verse - in oral form or written form?

A recent finding in Tamilnadu puts the date of Tamil Brahmi script at 3rd Century BC, that is before Ashoka and along with the times of Nandas. Popular linguistic scholars do not accept this time. But a verse in Aga nanuru mentioned Nanda kings and how Tamils had gone to their kingdom in Pataliputhra. Since the issue is on written script, how would they interpret the existence of this verse – in oral form or written form?

http://www.thehindu.com/news/states/tamil-nadu/article2408091.ece
Did the Tamil-Brahmi script originate in the post-Asokan period, that is, after the 3rd century BCE, or is it pre-Asokan? A cist-burial excavated in 2009 at Porunthal village, on the foothills of the Western Ghats, 12 km from Palani in Tamil Nadu, has reignited this debate because of the spectacular variety of grave goods it contained.

One of the two underground chambers of the grave was remarkable for the richness of its goods: a skull and skeletal bones, a four-legged jar with two kg of paddy inside, two ring-stands inscribed with the same Tamil-Brahmi script reading “va-y-ra” (meaning diamond) and a symbol of a gem with a thread passing through it, 7,500 beads made of carnelian, steatite, quartz and agate, three pairs of iron stirrups, iron swords, knives, four-legged jars of heights ranging from few centimetres to one metre, urns, vases, plates and bowls. It was obviously a grave that belonged to a chieftain ( The Hindu , June 28, 2009 and Frontline , October 8, 2010).

Aryan Invasion Theory became Aryan Migration Theory; Indus Valley became Saraswati Basin. The more we look, the more the need to look. Deeply.

Is this possible
While Aryan invaders, (makes no difference if blonde, white skinned with blue eyes or any other color) were conquering India, massacring the males, raping the women and taking children as slaves, Indian rishis in forests, learnt Sanskrit.

And Brahmi, Prakrit, Kharoshthi scripts from these invaders – wrote the complete grammar, memorized it entirely, found ways and means to transmit it from generation to generation, orally – in a matter of 300-500 years.

Can we get real
These Indians used all these foreign languages to compose more texts in these foreign languages (Sanskrit, Brahmi, Prakrit, Kharoshthi) than the rest of the ancient world, combined, could in their own languages. More than Egypt, Babylon, Assyria, Persia, Greece, Rome, Chinese – all of them put together.

And then erase the collective memory of the world about these compositions and texts. How else can we account for Chinese, Tibetan, Korean, Japanese monks travelling to India – to search for knowledge and wisdom.

This is false.

Recently
New results from the analysis of paddy grains found in the Porunthal graveyard archaeological site prove that writing systems in India were in existence in the 5th Century BC, predating the arrival of Asoka, according to history professor at the Pondicherry University and director of the excavation project at Porunthal K. Rajan.

Rice paddy samples that were contained in an engraved pot found inside one of the graves were found to be from 450 BC when analysed using Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) by the Beta Analytic Lab, USA, he said, addressing a private gathering organised by the Manarkeni journal.

Earlier, paddy sample from another grave was dated at 490 BC, but many scholars were unwilling to accept evidence obtained from only one sample. The analysis of the second sample proved that Tamil-Brahmi writing existed in the 5th century BC and was not invented in the 3rd century BC as was previously believed by scholars, he said. This was also the first time anyone had discovered Tamil-Brahmi script along with rice in any archaeological site. Scholars were still debating on the exact letters that were written and its meaning, he said.

Another significant discovery from the gravesite is that the paddy samples obtained in the graves in Porunthal were cultivated paddy of the Orissa Satvaika variety. The team also found a pot with around 2 kilos of rice paddy, which had been sealed in airtight containers. These graves also contained a large number of beads, which were predominantly glass. The pottery in the grave was also engraved with Tamil-Brahmi script, he said. In two of the graves, the team found over 11,000 beads, which were made from glass or paste. The beads were originally made in the Vidarbha region, indicating a trade relationship between the two regions. (via The Hindu : States / Tamil Nadu : Porunthal excavations prove existence of Indian scripts in 5th century BC: expert).

Changing history
Sometime back researchers in Australia traced the origin of the common rat, Rattus rattus to India. How it spread from India to the world – over a period of 20,000 years. And the spread was not a natural dispersion. It was human-aided dispersion.

Another interesting discovery was the silk in Mohenjodaro-Harappa complex. The earliest sample of silk. DNA tests showed that this was not Chinese silk – but Indian silk.

This Puducherry find proves glass industry in India in 500 BC – one of the oldest in the world. How did this rice seed sample cross from Orissa to Tamil Nadu? Or was it vice versa.

Monday, October 17, 2011

Porunthal excavations prove existence of Indian scripts in 5th century BC: expert

New results from the analysis of paddy grains found in the Porunthal graveyard archaeological site prove that writing systems in India were in existence in the 5th Century BC, predating the arrival of Asoka, according to history professor at the Pondicherry University and director of the excavation project at Porunthal K. Rajan.

Rice paddy samples that were contained in an engraved pot found inside one of the graves were found to be from 450 BC when analysed using Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) by the Beta Analytic Lab, USA, he said, addressing a private gathering organised by the Manarkeni journal.

Earlier, paddy sample from another grave was dated at 490 BC, but many scholars were unwilling to accept evidence obtained from only one sample. The analysis of the second sample proved that Tamil-Brahmi writing existed in the 5th century BC and was not invented in the 3rd century BC as was previously believed by scholars, he said. This was also the first time anyone had discovered Tamil-Brahmi script along with rice in any archaeological site. Scholars were still debating on the exact letters that were written and its meaning, he said.

Another significant discovery from the gravesite is that the paddy samples obtained in the graves in Porunthal were cultivated paddy of the Orissa Satvaika variety, he said.

The Porunthal site is located 12 km South West of Palani and was discovered to have archaeological value in 2006. In 2009-2010, Mr. Rajan and his team of 80 students started excavation at the site, which was divided into two sections – one area for habitation and one area with a graveyard. There were over 100 graves in the region, but with modernisation of the area, several graves have been destroyed and now only 30 graves are still intact, he said.

In the graves that were studied, it was found that while most of the containers found in the graves were made after the person's death, there was one container that showed signs of use. The team also found a pot with around 2 kilos of rice paddy, which had been sealed in airtight containers. These graves also contained a large number of beads, which were predominantly glass. The pottery in the grave was also engraved with Tamil-Brahmi script, he said. In two of the graves, the team found over 11,000 beads, which were made from glass or paste. The beads were originally made in the Vidarbha region, indicating a trade relationship between the two regions, he said.

The team had also unearthed a skeleton adorned with a necklace of beads in one of the graves, but they had not yet analysed the bones, he said. The excavation team also found pottery with a peacock design on it.

In his speech at the event, editor of the Manarkeni journal D. Ravikumar expressed distress at the destruction of various archaeological sites in the Porunthal region by quarries. History scholars T. Subramaniam, K. Vijayavenugopal and Raj Gouthaman spoke.

Friday, October 14, 2011

The Department of History, Pondicherry University excavated an archaeological site at Porunthal, located at the foot hill of Western Ghats 12 km southwest Palani town in 2009 and 2010. One of the famous Sangam Age Vel chieftains Vel-Avi-k-ko-p-perum-pekan (Purananuru 143, 144, 145, 146 and147) ruled this region. The Sangam literature Akananuru (1 and 61) and Purananuru (142) mention this place as belonging to the Vel chieftain Nedu-Vel-Avi. Three trenches laid in the habitation mound called paci-medu (bead mound) yielded thousands of glass beads along with a furnace for glass bead making, a square copper coin, terracotta figurines, ivory objects and many other archaeological findings. Four megalithic graves were opened in the grave yard of which two are transepted cist variety and remaining two are double-cist variety.
The grave (MEG-I) excavated in the year 2009 yielded 2 kg of paddy grains placed in a four-legged jar and kept as grave goods in the northern chamber of the grave. Dr.Premathilake, Post Graduate Institute of Archaeology, Sri Lanka and Dr.Anupama, Head, Department of Ecology, French Institute of Pondicherry, who examined the sample identified it as cultivated paddy (Oryza sativa indica). Another interesting piece of evidence is the red polished ware ring-stand engraved with Tamil-Brahmi script reading va-y-ra. This script is found in association with a graffito mark. Around this ring stand, 22 etched carnelian beads were found. Further, four more etched carnelian beads, a small sword and an arrow head were placed inside the ring stand. The Tamil-Brahmi script, graffito mark, carnelian beads, an iron sword and an arrow head found along with the ring stand clearly points to the importance given to the departed soul. The contextual position of the ring stand clearly points to its significance. Two long iron swords with a bunch of arrow heads close to their tip portion are observed. Besides three set of iron stirrups, carnelian beads, steatite micro beads, quartz beads, iron swords, arrowheads, skeletal remains and innumerable pots, basins, ring stands, vases, plates were recovered from this grave.
The paddy grains collected from the jar were sent for radiometric dating and it has been dated to 2440±30 BP (490 BC) by Beta Analytic Lab. This dating that takes the antiquity of an Early Historic grave to 490 BC has great significance in the history of Tamil Nadu. This is for the first time that an AMS dating (Accelerator Mass Spectrometry) has been obtained for a grave in Tamil Nadu. So far, the Tamil-Brahmi script was dated on the basis of palaeographical, linguistic and straigraphical parameters. Due to the non-availability of the scientific dating, fixing the chronology of Tamil-Brahmi had been eluding the scholars.
There are two major divergent views on the date of Tamil-Brahmi. The eminent scholar Iravatham Mahadevan holds the view that Tamil-Brahmi was introduced in Tamil Nadu after 3rd century BC and it is post-Asokan. Scholars like K.V.Ramesh consider it as pre-Asokan. Now, the date of Tamil-Brahmi can be dated two hundred years before Asoka. The scholars were mostly holding the view that the early history of south India begins with 3rd century BC, but the present date demands a relook. Now one may be justified in presuming that like other parts of India, the early history of south India too begins before 5th century BC and it could have been contemporary to the mahajanapadas. Further, the famous megalithic graves introduced during Iron Age in south India had continued their existence well into the Early Historic times.

Thus, the AMS dating of the paddy grains from the Porunthal site has the following implications:

• The ancient history of Tamil Nadu can be pushed back to 5th century BC
• The context of Tamil-Brahmi goes back to 490 BC and therefore pre-Asokan
• The paddy cultivation goes back to 5th century BC
• The megalithic graves introduced in Iron Age continued into the Early Historic times

Such early dates were reported at Adichchanallur, Korkai, Mangadu and Pattanam in ancient Tamilakam. Such multiple dates are still required from different archaeological sites to place the beginning of Early Historic Tamil Nadu on firm ground.

Ancient glass-making furnace discovered
TNN Jun 22, 2009, 02.24am IST
MADURAI: A glass-making unit functioned in Pasimedu near Palani in Dindigul district 2,000 years ago, according to the discovery by research scholars and historians, who have been excavating this site for the last two months.

Speaking to TOI, K Rajan, head, department of History, Pondicherry University, said they had started excavation in the Porunthal village on the left bank of the Porunthal river, near Palani, under a project funded by the Central Institute of Classical Tamil and Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). They had made three trenches and collected over 2,000 glass beads. The beads are of various colours. A mound in this region called pasimedu' (mound of beads) was found to be covering an Iron Age' grave dating back to 500 B.C., that is 2,500 years ago.

Their most priced discovery was that of a glass-making furnace, the first such discovery in Tamil Nadu, which dates back to the first century A.D. The grave contained skeletal remains from a secondary burial over a bed of about 3,000 beads belonging to varieties like steatite micro beads and etched carnelian beads and quartz beads, pendants and agate beads. Jars, conical vases and plates were also discovered in the grave that contained graffiti.

They also discovered many antiques including terrocotta male figurines dating back to first century A.D. and a terrocotta humped bull belonging to the same period. The glass-making furnace contained 50 identical symmetrical bowls used for polishing the beads by placing them on sand and a triangular terrocotta piece used for polishing the beads by rubbing them was also found.

The site lies very close to the ancient trade route between the Pandiya capital of Madurai and Chera capital of Vanji. Earlier, gold coins belonging to the Roman empire of the first century A.D. had been discovered in places along the route like Chinnakalayamuthur, Pollachi and Bhoothinatham.

This passage is mentioned as Peruvazhi' (big route) in Sangam literature. Commercial trade had taken place through this route to Rome and Greece according to history.

T.S. Subramanian
Pointer to how writing followed commerce in Tamil country
— PHOTOS: S. JAMES AND K. RAJAN

FINDS: The cist-burial with two chambers, port-hole, ring-stand, a four-legged jar and pots at Porunthal; the ring-stand with Tamil-Brahmi inscription; decorated carnelian beads.
CHENNAI: A largely intact piece of pottery with a significant inscription in Tamil-Brahmi and the symbol of a gem or bead was found this week from a burial site at Porunthal village on the foothills of the Western Ghats.

Epigraphists have deciphered the three Tamil-Brahmi letters on the ring-stand as “vayra,” which means diamond. The deep-set cist-burial, which has two compartments made of granite slabs, was found to have skeletal remains. A pair of stirrups lay next to the ring-stand.

K. Rajan, Head of the Department of History, Pondicherry University, who directed the excavation, about 12 km from Palani in Tamil Nadu, called the discovery of Tamil-Brahmi script “very important” because it had been found in a remote village and goes to show that literacy had spread to even far-flung villages during the early Christian era. On palaeographical grounds, the script could be dated between the first century B.C. and the first century A.D., he said.

The cist-burial also yielded thousands of tiny, beautiful beads of different varieties such as carnelian, steatite, quartz and agate, four-legged jars, vases, bowls, plates, iron arrow-heads and so on.

Excavation at a site 2 km away yielded thousands of beads and the remnants of the furnace where the beads were possibly made. Terracotta figurines of a humped bull and a man, and a square copper coin of the Tamil Sangam Age, were also found.

Trade route link
Iravatham Mahadevan, a scholar in the Tamil-Brahmi and Indus scripts, described it as “a great discovery” because it established that writing followed commerce. Porunthal lay close to a major, ancient trade route from Madurai, capital of the Pandya country, to Chera country in present-day Kerala. He said the script could be read as “vayra.”

The symbol that followed the three Tamil-Brahmi letters showed an etched gem and bead, with a thread coming out of the bead. According to Mr. Mahadevan, the script could be dated to the first century A.D. The grave belonged to a royal personage. Mr. Mahadevan said the site called for greater exploration and more allocation of funds from the Central Institute of Classical Tamil.

Graffiti marks?
Opinion is, however, divided on whether the three letters are in Tamil-Brahmi or they are graffiti marks. Dr. Rajan quoted Y. Subbarayalu, Head of the Department of Indology, the French Institute of Pondicherry, and epigraphist S. Rajagopal as saying they were graffiti marks. However, V. Vedachalam, retired senior epigraphist, Tamil Nadu Archaeology Department, and S. Rajavelu, senior epigraphist, Archaeological Survey of India, agreed with Mr. Mahadevan that it was Tamil-Brahmi. Dr. Vedachalam said the symbol of the bead had been found on every pot found in the cist-burial.

The cist is at the centre of a circle of boulders. It has two chambers, one in the northern direction and the other in the southern direction. The dividing slab has a port-hole. Both chambers yielded four-legged jars and pottery. The ring-stand, with the carved script on its surface, was placed at the centre of the northern chamber. Around the ring-stand were 22 beautiful, etched carnelian beads; inside were five more beads.

This grave alone yielded 7,500 beads made of steatite, carnelian, quartz and agate. “These are the largest number of beads collected from any grave in Tamil Nadu,” Dr. Rajan said. Porunthal was an important bead-making centre. Another important find was 2 kg of well-preserved paddy inside a four-legged jar.

Dr. Rajan added: “The occurrence of paddy in a 2000-year old grave reflects the agricultural potential of the period. The richness of the grave goods, the size of the chamber, the high level of rituals performed, the finding of the script, paddy and the stirrups point to the importance of the man who was buried there.”

Students from four universities including Mangalore, Sri Venkateswara (Tirupati), Tamil (Thanjavur) and Pondicherry conducted the excavations in both places.

S. Annamalai and K. Raju
The glass bead-making unit is the first of its kind in State

— Photo: S. James

An Iron Age burial site found by archaeologists near Porunthal in Dindigul district .
PALANI: A team of research scholars and students of archaeology have unearthed a glass bead-manufacturing unit and an Iron Age graveyard in two places around Porunthal. It is 12 km from here on the ancient east-west trade route, connecting Tamil Nadu with Kerala. The first excavation made on ‘paasi medu’ (bead mound), spread over an area of five hectares, has revealed the presence of a glass bead-manufacturing unit. Thousands of beads in green, red, black, yellow, white, blue and maroon colours were unearthed from an area of 50 sq m, along with over 30 identical red ware bowls, triangular terracotta pieces and two furnaces.

According to K. Rajan, Professor of Archaeology, Pondicherry University, who leads the excavation team, these “Indo-Pacific beads” could have been exported through Musiripattinam in Trichur district of Kerala, though there is no literary evidence to substantiate this claim. But the glass bead unit is the first of its kind in Tamil Nadu, he said.

The beads found at Porunthal are waste products and the good ones would either have been used or exported. A brick wall found in the third trench at the site reveals the importance of Porunthal as a trade centre. The brick pattern followed in the wall, which in later years came to be referred to as “English bond,” is testimony to the technical skill of ancient people who lived in this region.

Other finds include an ivory dice, earrings, Sangam Age Chera square copper coin, hopscotches and a terracotta figurine. A figurine of a bull is another rare find. The terracotta figurine of a male, with a prominent face, broad shoulders and short legs, is dated 1st century AD.

The team of research scholars and students from Pondicherry University, Tamil University, Mangalore University and Sri Venkateswara University found several Iron Age burials near the foothills of the Western Ghats abutting Chinna Gandhipuram. Each of these megalithic graves is encircled by boulders.

These cist burials are of simple, according to V. Vedachalam, senior epigraphist.

A burial with 12.5-metre diameter reveals the rich culture of the people of the region. The bicameral cist has two decks and two port holes. Its southern chamber yielded four-legged jars and pots of red polished ware, bowl of black and red ware and plates of black slipped ware. More than 3,000 beads of semi-precious stones were also recovered around the skeletal remains.

The “grave goods” found in the cist suggest a kind of ritual performed by people, said Dr. Rajan. Porunthal, on the banks of the Porunthalar, is one among the 175 archaeological sites surveyed by V. P. Yatheeskumar, research scholar of Pondicherry University, in the Amaravathi valley. The excavation is conducted with support from Pondicherry University, under the guidance of J. A. K. Tareen, Vice-Chancellor, Central Institute of Classical Tamil and Archaeological Survey of India.

Palani excavation triggers fresh debate

Did the Tamil-Brahmi script originate in the post-Asokan period, that is, after the 3rd century BCE, or is it pre-Asokan? A cist-burial excavated in 2009 at Porunthal village, on the foothills of the Western Ghats, 12 km from Palani in Tamil Nadu, has reignited this debate because of the spectacular variety of grave goods it contained.

One of the two underground chambers of the grave was remarkable for the richness of its goods: a skull and skeletal bones, a four-legged jar with two kg of paddy inside, two ring-stands inscribed with the same Tamil-Brahmi script reading “va-y-ra” (meaning diamond) and a symbol of a gem with a thread passing through it, 7,500 beads made of carnelian, steatite, quartz and agate, three pairs of iron stirrups, iron swords, knives, four-legged jars of heights ranging from few centimetres to one metre, urns, vases, plates and bowls. It was obviously a grave that belonged to a chieftain ( The Hindu , June 28, 2009 and Frontline , October 8, 2010).

When K. Rajan, Professor, Department of History, Pondicherry University, excavated this megalithic grave, little did he realise that the paddy found in the four-legged jar would be instrumental in reviving the debate on the origin of the Tamil-Brahmi script. Accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) dating of the paddy done by Beta Analysis Inc., Miami, U.S.A, assigned the paddy to 490 BCE. “Since all the goods kept in the grave including the paddy and the ring-stands with the Tamil-Brahmi script are single-time deposits, the date given to the paddy is applicable to the Tamil-Brahmi script also,” said Dr. Rajan. So the date of evolution of Tamil-Brahmi could be pushed 200 years before Asoka, he argued.

This dating, done on the Porunthal paddy sent to the U.S. laboratory by Dr. Rajan, took the antiquity of the grave belonging to the early historic age to 490 BCE, he said. It held great significance for Tamil Nadu's history, he added. This was the first time an AMS dating was done for a grave in Tamil Nadu.

There are two major divergent views on the date of Tamil-Brahmi.

While scholars such as Iravatham Mahadevan and Y. Subbarayalu hold the view that Tamil-Brahmi was introduced in Tamil Nadu after 3rd century BCE and it is, therefore, post-Asokan, some others including K.V. Ramesh, retired Director of Epigraphy, Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), consider it pre-Asokan.

According to Dr. Rajan, the AMS dating of the Porunthal paddy grains has the following implications: the context of the Tamil-Brahmi goes back to 490 BCE and it is, therefore, pre-Asokan; Tamil Nadu's ancient history can be pushed back to 5th century BCE and it was contemporary to mahajanapadas (kingdoms) such as Avanti, Kosala, Magadha and so on; paddy cultivation goes back to 5th century BCE; and it establishes that the megalithic graves introduced in the Iron Age continued into the early historic times.

When contacted, Mr. Mahadevan, a leading authority on the Tamil-Brahmi and Indus scripts, and Dr. Subbarayalu, Head, Department of Indology, French Institute of Pondicherry, said it was difficult to reach a conclusion on the basis of one single scientific dating.

Mr. Mahadevan described the dating as “interesting” but said “multiple carbon-dates are needed” for confirmation. “If there are several such cases, history has to be re-written because up to now, the scientifically proved earliest date is from Tissamaharama in southern Sri Lanka, where a Tamil-Brahmi script is dated to 200 BCE.” If there is scientific evidence that the paddy is dated to 490 BCE, “we have to sit up and take notice, and wait for confirmation,” Mr. Mahadevan said.

The Asokan-Brahmi is dated to 250 BCE. Megasthenes, the Greek Ambassador to the court of Chandragupta Maurya, Emperor Asoka's grandfather, had stated that the people of Chandragupta Maurya's kingdom did not know how to write and that they depended on memory. Besides, there is no inscription of the pre-Asoka period available. Mr. Mahadevan said: “Supposing a large number of carbon-datings are available from various sites, which will take us to the period of the Mauryas and even the Nandas, we can consider. But to push [the date of the origin of the Tamil-Brahmi script] a couple of centuries earlier with a single carbon-dating is not acceptable because chances of contamination and error are there.”

Dr. Subbarayalu also argued that on the basis of one single scientific dating, it was difficult to reach the conclusion that Tamil-Brahmi was pre-Asokan. There should be more evidence to prove that Tamil-Brahmi was earlier to the time of Asoka, in whose time was available the earliest Brahmi script in north India.

Mr. Mahadevan's conclusion that Tamil-Brahmi is post-Asokan and it had its advent from about the middle of the third century BCE is based on “concrete archaeological as well as palaeographical grounds” and this date is as yet the most reasonable one, in spite of minor points of difference on his dating of individual inscriptions, said Dr. Subbarayalu.

The date of the Tamil-Brahmi script found at Porunthal, on palaeographic basis, could be put only in the first century BCE/CE and “cannot be pushed back to such an early date [490 BCE].” The three letters “va-y-ra” found on the ring-stands were developed and belonged to the second stage of Mr. Mahadevan's dating of Tamil-Brahmi. “It is premature to revise the Tamil-Brahmi dating on the basis of a single carbon date, which is governed by complicated statistical probabilities,” Dr. Subbarayalu said. The word “vayra” is an adapted name from the Prakrit or Sanskrit “vajra” and it is difficult to explain convincingly the generally dominant Prakrit element in Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions found on rock and pot-sherds if Tamil-Brahmi is indigenous and pre-Asokan and transported from south India to north India, he says.

On the other hand, Dilip K. Chakrabarti, Emeritus Professor, Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge, called the Porunthal Tamil-Brahmi script “an epoch-making discovery in the archaeology of Tamil Nadu” and said there “is no doubt” that Tamil-Brahmi belonged to the pre-Asokan period. In two of his books — “An Oxford Companion to Indian Archaeology” and “India, an Archaeological History” — he had written that the evolution of Tamil-Brahmi should go back to circa 500 BCE.

He refuted the theory that Tamil-Brahmi was post-Asokan.

Dr. Ramesh, who retired as the ASI's Joint Director-General in 1993, said the Porunthal scientific dating strengthened the argument that Tamil-Brahmi was pre-Asokan. He dismissed the assessment that Tamil-Brahmi was post-Asokan as “the argument of people who say that there cannot be pre-Asokan inscriptions.” “How can you question the scientific dating given by an American laboratory?” Dr. Ramesh said the Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions found at Mankulam, near Madurai, were pre-Asokan. [The Mankulam inscriptions are the earliest Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions and they are dated to second century BCE]. “The consonants in the Mankulam inscriptions do not have vowel value attached to them. They are pre-Asokan and the script is more rudimentary than the Asokan-Brahmi,” he claimed.

The date given by the American laboratory was “a wonderful result,” said M.R. Raghava Varier, former Professor, Department of History, Calicut University, “because the earliest date given so far to a south Indian site was 300 BCE.” The archaeological sites of Uraiyur in Tamil Nadu and Arikkamedu in Puducherry fell within the time-limit of 300 BCE and Arikkamedu belonged to a later period than Uraiyur. While the [pre-Asokan] date given to a Tamil-Brahmi inscription found at Anuradhapura in Sri Lanka “has not been proved convincingly,” there was “a convincing date” at Porunthal and it was based on a scientific dating system, said Professor Varier, who was the honorary Editor of Kerala Archaeological Series. Its importance lay in the fact that while the Asokan-Brahmi began in the 3rd century BCE, the Porunthal script could be dated to 5th century BCE, he says. “But we cannot argue that Brahmi was invented by the southern people. That is a different issue.”

Porunthal(77° 28’ 38” E; 10° 22’ 58” N), a tiny village discovered in June 2009, lies on the left bank of the river Porunthilaru at the foothill of the Western Ghat about 12 km southwest Palani. This site discovered by V.P Yathees Kumar in 2006.This historical village lies close to the major trade routes connecting Pandya capital Madurai on the south and Chera capital Vanji on the west. The site was excavated between May and June 2009. Historically, the village Porunthal was part of the territorial division known as Vaikavur nadu, named after the main village Vaikavur or Aviyur. This village was considered as part of present pilgrimage town Palani, the ancient Pothini. One of the famous Vel chieftains who ruled this region was Vel-Avi-k-ko-p-perum-pekan, who belongs to a clan group named Aviyar-kudi. The Sangam poet Porunthil Ilangiranar who hailed from this village composed a poem (Purananuru 53) in praise of Chera king Mantharal Cheral Irumporai, who believed to be issued inscribed coins with a title Kollipporai datable to 1st century AD.

Coin Hoards

Among the Roman coin hoards that encountered in India, nearly 90% of coin hoards were unearthed in Chera country along trade routes. One such coin hoard, accounting to 63 gold coins, discovered at Kalaiyamuttur on the left bank of river Porunthilaru in 1856, about 8 km down the stream from the site Porunthal suggests its importance. Other important archaeological sites that yielded Roman coin hoards in its vicinity were Budhinattam, Pollachi, Dharapuram and Karur.

Trade Guild inscriptions

Historically important medieval trade guild inscriptions issued by the trade guilds Ainurruvar/Tisai-ayirattu-ainurruvar were located about 5 km from Porunthal down the stream at Tamaraikulam and Rajapuram. The Tamaraikulam and Rajapuram lies on the bank opposite to each other suggesting the east-west trade route that would have crossed the river at this point. The Rajapuram inscription refers to a gift made by Tisai-ayirattu-ainurruvar for the maintenance of the garden of a Siva temple located at Tamaraikulam. The Tamaraikulam trade guild inscription issued in 1192 AD during the 9th regnal of Parakesari Viracholan, a Kongu Chola refers to the trade guild Ainurruvar. The availability of early historical vestiges, coin hoards, trade guild inscriptions, graffiti marks, brick structures, etc., in the archaeological sites located in and around Porunthal clearly points the potentiality of the site.

Porunthal and its archaeological settings

All archaeological vestiges like habitation mound, Iron Age burials, historical temples and inscriptions lie on the left bank of river Porunthilaru. The habitation mound covering an area of about 5.5 ha of elevated field locally called paci-medu meaning bead mound (paci > bead; medu > mound) lies south of Marutha-kali-amman-koil. In support of this name, innumerable beads and bangles made of glass and paste were collected on the surface. The site might have survived for a longer period of time as bead manufacturing centre as attested by the occurrence fragments of tuyere, slag and furnace material. A fragmentary inscription datable to 12th century AD noticed on the slab, placed as a part of door jam of the medieval templeMarutha-kali-amman-koil, mentions this village as Porunthal. Early Historic grave yard, consist of stone circles entombing cist numbering around 50, was noticed at the foothill near the present hamlets Chinnagandhipuram. Besides, such Iron Age graves were noticed in the vicinity of Porunthal in the places at Ravimangalam, Puliyamarattusettu. Periyaduraikombai and Salpulparai.

Aims and Objectives of the Excavations

¨To understand the cultural and chronological sequence of the site

¨To study the spacio-temporal organization of the settlement

¨To investigate the nature of glass bead making industry

¨To evaluate the cultural transformation from Iron Age to Early Historic

¨To understand the contextual position of the site in the Indo-Roman Trade

¨To estimate the literacy status of the society during Early Historic times

Methodology

The Excavation was conceived as multidisciplinary archaeological research with involvement of archaeologists, geologists, palaeo-botanists, epigraphists, numismatics, archaeo-zoologists and palaeontologists. These scholars cutting across multi-disciplinary spectrum were visited during the excavation. Besides, several scientific institutions and laboratories like French Institute of Pondicherry, Paddy Processing Research Institute, Chemical Laboratory of Madras Museum and TamilNaduAgriculturalUniversity were associated with the post-excavation analysis.

Habitation Cuttings

In total, three trenches were laid one on southern part of the habitation mound and the remaining two at the central part. The two trenches were laid adjacent to each other in east-west orientation yielded similar cultural deposit. The material recovered from 250 cm cultural deposit suggests to a tentative date of 1st century BC and 3rd century AD. On the surface of the floor, several antiquities like glass and paste beads, glass bangles, pendent, copper bell, terracotta ear lopes, hopscotch, terracotta weight, gamesmen, stopper, spout, glass slag, bones, brick pieces, stone pebbles, gold pendent, ivory weight, etc., were recovered.

Glass Polishing Furnace

An oval shaped glass polishing furnace, with hearth side wall intact, was exposed almost at the centre of the floor with 60 glass beads. Two holes probably used for placing the bellow and a flat stone used by the glass-smith and several identical red ware bowls with wide mouth and narrow bottom were noticed in association with furnace. These bowls, placed around the furnace, might have been used in the workshop to keep the glass beads in heated condition. Several triangular terracotta pieces were recovered in association with these bowls.These terracotta pieces might have used to polish the glass surface. The non-availability of glass slag, raw material for producing beads, tyueres and waste material clearly points to the fact this furnace might have restricted to the use of polishing the glass beads. Several hundreds of glass beads were encountered above this floor. Quite interestingly, the regular household pots used in the day to day domestic life were missing. All the pots recovered from these two trenches points to industrial activity rather than domestic activity. The occurrence of more than 2000 beads also supports this view.

Antiquities

Human terracotta figurine, gold piece, copper coin, terracotta humped bull, a terracotta female head and several pots and bowls were recovered. Besides, charred grains like paddy and seeds of tamarind were recovered at this stage. The important antiquities recovered from these trenches were beads made of glass, paste, quartz, shell, garnet and terracotta. Bangle pieces came from glass and shell. The terracotta objects like ear lobes, ear rings, games men, hook, hopscotch, spindle whorl, ball and cart-wheel are some of the interesting objects recovered from these cuttings. In case of metal objects iron arrow heads, knives and nails were collected sparingly. Likewise a copper ring and a bell were also collected. Two pendants one made gold and another of glass were also unearthed. Among the weights (presumably), made of quartz and ivory, were of note worthy.

Terracotta Figurines

The well-modelled human (male?) figurine with prominent human facial feature made out of pinching method has elongated body, broad shoulder and short legs, all suggestive of archaic figure generally dated to 1st century AD. Such unique terracotta figurines were not reported elsewhere in Tamil Nadu. In addition to these figurines, three torso figurines were recovered. Besides, a female head was recovered. The head with curling hairs was shown with prominent elongated ear. Near to these figurines, a square (Sangam Age ?) copper coin was also recovered.

Brick Structure

A brick structure was exposed on the north-eastern corner of the third trench. The brick wall with five courses was raised over a base made of 20 cm thick clay foundation. The bricks were laid using the English bond method. The size of the brick is 7x21x42 cm and 8x24x48 cm in the ratio of 1:3:6 cm. The stretcher and header method was adapted alternatively.

General observations

¨The site was an industrial site involved with manufacture of the glass beads

¨The inhabitants were rarely involved in agricultural production

¨Glass manufacturing activities are more at lower levels when compare with the upper levels.

¨Green beads were manufactured in larger quantities in early period and paste red beads in later periods.

¨Though they were involved with the mass production of glass beads, their external trade contact was kept at minimal level. They might have involved in the manufacturing of beads rather than marketing. Marketing of these beads would have taken place at some other marketing sites, probably located along the trade routes.

Excavation of a Grave

The graveyard covering an area of 2 ha lies at the eastern side of the foothill of Tannasiyappanmalai. Among the graves, the one found in the cultivated field near to the main road was selected for excavation. The east facing transepted cist with passage on the east was placed almost at the centre of the circle. Grave goods were placed inside the northern and southern chambers and in the passage. Besides, grave goods were also noticed outside the chamber but mostly within the circle. Grave goods were placed at two levels. The first level of grave goods was noticed on the floor slab and the second level of grave goods was noticed at the porthole level. In case of northern chamber, almost all the grave goods except a pot were placed at the floor level. In case of southern chamber, the grave goods were placed at the floor level in all the three compartments/partitions but in a limited quantity. However, several grave goods were placed on the bench slab at the second level. The ritual performed in this grave was of high standard.

Both the northern and southern chambers were met with several pots like four legged jars, plates, ring stands, bowls, miniature bowls and antiquities like stirrups, beads, arrow heads, skeletal remains, swords, pots and knife. One of the legged jars carried the paddy, close to 2 kg, in comparatively better state of preservation. All the above grave goods were packed in a limited area on the western most part of the northern chamber. Next to this, on its east, the most important ring stand was noticed. This red slipped ring stand was placed in a vertical position on the floor slab. Around this 22 etched carnelian was placed. Of these 22 beads, two were button-shaped and remaining 20 beads were barrel in shape. Further, 4 more etched carnelian beads, a small sword and an arrow head were placed inside the ring stand. The tip of the sword and the arrow head were placed pointing upward. Of the 4 beads, one is a button-shaped but broken. An iron sword, in east-west orientation with tip on its west, was placed on the northern side of the above ring stand. The sword was placed close to northern orthostat. One of the important points to be observed is that all the ring stands that placed in this grave were made fresh and interned as grave good but the ring stand under discussion was a used one, probably, belonged to the deceased one. On his death, this would have brought and placed in the chamber and some important ritual might have performed.

Tamil-Brahmi Inscription

Above all, the ring stand under discussion had five post-firing graffiti marks engraved on the exterior surface of the shoulder portion of the ring stand. Four marks engraved on one side and the remaining one was on the opposite side. The four marks were placed facing west and the remaining solitary graffito on its opposite facing east. Of the four graffiti marks, three graffiti marks were Tamil-Brahmi scripts reading va-y-ra. These were smaller in size when compare with the fourth graffiti engraved next to these three scripts. The last symbol is identical to the one, both in size and shape that were found in most of the pots placed as grave goods in this grave. The fifth symbol engraved on the opposite side of the ring stand was identical to the fourth symbol.The Tamil-Brahmi script, graffiti marks, carnelian beads, an iron sword and an arrow head found in association with ring stand clearly points to the importance given by them. This ring stand, as said above, was placed close to human bone pieces placed over the broken legged jar and in the ring stand. The contextual position of the ring stand clearly points to its importance. Near to the orthostat, two long iron swords with a bunch of arrow heads close to its tip portion were observed. Besides, three set of iron stirrups were placed. Over these iron objects, bone pieces were placed in a black and red ware plate. In total, this chamber yielded beads of etched carnelian, agate, quartz and steatite totalling more than 8000 beads.

Besides, Ph.D scholars, M.Phil and Postgraduate students from MangaloreUniversity, Sri.VenkateswaraUniversity, TamilUniversity and PondicherryUniversity actively participated and got trained in the explorations and excavation techniques. The several scholars cutting across disciplines visited the site during the excavations and rendered valuable academic input for the better understanding of the site.